Innovation ecosystem

Innovation is a team sport

01 / 19

Innovation is our lifeblood, the engine that drives our business. To drive the fast pace of innovation in our value chain, our technology is developed together with the help of our partners and collaborative knowledge network.

A strong innovation ecosystem is crucial. To fulfill our leadership role and reinforce our innovation footprint for future generations, we also give back to the industry by supporting and sharing our expertise with high-tech startups.

The need for innovation

As the markets of artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity, augmented reality, and the Internet of Things expand, consumers across the world are using ever-more powerful and sophisticated devices that are increasingly interconnected.

These developments drive demand for microchips, which in turn drive demand for the chip-making systems that produce smaller, faster, cheaper, more powerful and energy-efficient microchips. We can only meet this demand by consistently and continuously advancing our technology.

Research

Innovation is crucial to the continuing success of our business. To stay ahead, we invest heavily in R&D. We conduct research to sustain and aid innovation in the long term. We co-develop expertise within a wide network of technology partners, such as universities and research institutions. This approach allows us to accelerate innovation and provides us with access to a large leading-edge knowledge base across a wide range of technologies.

To maintain our pace of innovation we need to develop the right knowledge and share it quickly and efficiently. Faster access to knowledge spurs faster development, allowing problems to be solved as quickly as possible. We have several programs in place to continually build and maintain a solid technical and functional knowledge base across the company.

Collaboration for invention

We develop our technology in close collaboration with partners inside and outside our company, sharing the rewards and the risks.

For example, researchers from ASML, the Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography, Tata Steel and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are cooperating to develop new techniques for imaging surfaces based on lens-less microscopy. To support our lithography business, we also have a close and long-standing partnership with Carl Zeiss AG, and with Cadence Design Systems, as part of our holistic patterning strategy.

ASML and world-famous research and innovation hub, imec, are also collaborating to accelerate the adoption of EUV lithography for high-volume production. Additionally, we will explore the potential of the next-generation High-NA EUV lithography to enable printing of even smaller nanoscale devices.